To be sure, the deal sent shock-waves throughout the retail industry. At the time, pundits galore thought Amazon's bet on physical retail stores meant death to grocery stores such as Kroger (KR) and down the line, clothing retailers like Macy's (M) .

That hasn't been the case. Since then, Amazon has struggled to turn Whole Foods around. And, other retailers such as Kroger, Walmart (WMT) , Target (TGT) and Costco (COST) have upped their games with new same-day delivery services, better organic food offerings and cheaper prices.

Further, other than Kroger, shares of Walmart and Target have regained their losses and then some logged on the day Amazon said it would buy Whole Foods.